Blonde, dark-eyed Aliki Vouyouklaki (Greek: Αλίκη Βουγιουκλάκη) (1934-1996) was one of the most popular and successful actresses of the Greek cinema. She appeared in 42 films, mostly comedies and musicals, and in a wide variety of television programs, theatre and stage productions.
Aliki Stamatina Vouyouklaki (also written as Vuyuklaki or Vougiouklaki) was born in Maroussi, Greece, in 1933 (or 1934, according to some sources). She had two brothers, film director Takis Vouyouklakis, and architect Antonis Vouyouklakis. Her father was killed by German troops during World War II. She studied at the Drama School of the Greek National Theater and she started to act while still a student. Aliki made her stage debut in a 1953 Athens production of Molière's Le malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Patient). Around the same time she made her first film, playing the leading role in To pontikaki/The little Mouse (1954, Yorgos Assimakopoulos, Nikos Tsiforos), the Greek version of My Fair Lady. This debut would be followed by scores of other popular dramatic and comic films. The late 1950's was her breakthrough period: on stage she starred as Eliza Doolittle in a successful 1958 revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and she took the leading part in a very popular film, To xylo vgike apo ton Paradeiso/Maiden's Cheek (1959, Alekos Sakellarios). Instantly, Aliki with her classical beauty became Greece's most popular star. A doll and a pastry were named after her. She featured in several films for production company Finos films during the ‘golden age of the commercial Greek cinema’; the early 1960’s. Her trademark was a red hibiscus behind her ear. She also created her personal theatre group and staged plays like Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. She starred in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Sophocles' Antigone in the ancient theatre of Epidaurus, both productions were massive commercial successes, but created great controversies.
Aliki Vouyouklaki won the Best Actress prize at the first Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1960 for her starring role in Madalena (1960, Dinos Dimopoulos). In 1965 she married her film and stage partner Dimitris Papamichail. They had met on the set as the leads of the romantic comedy To xylo vgike apo ton Paradeiso/Maiden's Cheek (1959) and had also fallen in love privately. Together, they went on to star in a number of popular films, includingI Aliki sto Naftiko/Aliki in the Navy (1961, Alekos Sakellarios), which sold more than 590,000 tickets in Greece. Alekos Sakellarios wrote the biggest comedy hits of the Greek cinema, and Aliki acted in them, singing the unforgettable songs of composer Manos Hatzidakis. Aliki herself allegedly wrote the script for the English language production, Aliki my love (1962, Rudolph Maté) with Wilfred Hyde-White. The film premiered both in London and Athens, but was a total flop. While she was best-known in her native land, Vouyouklaki also had followings in Israel and Turkey. A following film, Htypokardia sto thranio/Heartbeats in High School (1963, Alekos Sakellarios) was shot simultaneously in Greek and Turkish, with two different casts. Aliki starred in both versions, with her voice being dubbed in the Turkish version, Siralardaki heyecanlar (1963, Alekos Sakellarios). I neraida kai to palikari/The Fairy and the Man (1969, Dinos Dimopoulos) was a comic version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In 1969, Aliki also gave birth to her only child, Yiannis Papamichail. The following year came her biggest success with the film Ypolohagos Natassa/Battlefield Constantinople (1970, Nikos Foskolos), about a young Greek woman who lost her husband during the Second World War. The film sold more than 750,000 tickets in Athens, and would stay the biggest moneymaker in the history of Greek cinema for almost three decades. That year she received the title, National Star of Greece. I Maria tis siopis/Maria of silence (1973, Giannis Dalianidis) was a remake of the Hollywood production Johnny Belinda (1948, Jean Negulesco) about a deaf and mute rape victim, originally played by Jane Wyman.
Eventually Aliki Vouyouklaki‘s marriage to Dimitris Papamichail became troubled. She shot her next film S'Agapo/I love you (1971, Takis Vougiouklakis) without her husband and usual co-star, and the celebrity couple divorced in 1975. Aliki continued to play in the theatre. Since 1971 she even owned her own theatre, named Aliki. It staged one hit after another, among them Cabaret, My Fair Lady, and Educating Rita. Even though she was the number one box office star in Greece, Aliki went through an audition in London in order to get the rights to play the title part in the Rice-Webber musical Evita. About her portrayal of Eva Perón, Laurence Olivier later was quoted: "the best Evita I have ever seen". After a

Age

62

Wikipedia Text

Aliki Vougiouklaki (Greek: Αλίκη Βουγιουκλάκη; 20 July 1934 – 23 July 1996) was a Greek actress, best known for her films and theatrical plays. Theatrically she has mostly created renditions of widely known Broadway musicals as well as Greek tragedy plays. She died after fighting pancreatic cancer at the age of 62.

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